We had "booked" off 7 days, arranged for pet & plant care, and had ourselves all geared up for an "epic" 7-day hike in the South Chilcotins. Our original plan was to hike in via the Paradise Valley, day hike to Castle Pk, continue on to the upper Tyaughton Valley and on to Lizard Lakes, culminating with some spectacular day hiking along Warner Ridge & Trail Ridge.

We left on the 16th, arriving at the trailhead at 9:30 pm after a long drive from North Vancouver, not to mention the last arduous 10 km's or so of what's left of a road - we even had to drive over a couple downed trees. The forecast was not looking too great for the next week, but we were in the Sunny South Chilcotins - weren't we?? I was pretty concerned about the chances of us getting out if it were to rain as much as forecast - the "road" we came in on was a prime candidate for gumbo (= slide off road on narrow corner into ravine), that is if a portion of it didn't wash away first. Sure we had a Sat. phone with us, but if a situation can be avoided, then plan something else.

Well, this is really only the super-condensed version of the story (the full version involves battery-compatibility issues with our GPS, battery issues with the truck, and the dissapearance of the bottom half of my bikini), so I'll just leave it at that.

We opted for a slightly safer road-access hike, and one that would be easier to "bail" from if the weather turned ugly. The Taylor Creek route became our new destination - one that neither of us was too thrilled about but presented a greater margin of safety (remember - you're not getting the full story here so you'll just have to trust me on this).

Left: Crossing Taylor Creek on what's left of the footbridge. Will it survive another winter??

At about 2:30 we stopped for lunch. What had been a predomanantly blue sky as we'd started was becoming a dark black sky not just threatening, but guaranteeing rain. Better eat quick and get on with the hike!

We obviously weren't going to be enjoying any comforts here, so on we pressed in search of a spot to set up our base camp for the next few nights.

A short walk up from the cabin I spotted some dry flat ground under a dense mass of trees, along with a fire pit and some make-shift benches. I called Andre over and we quickly got the tent and tarp up just in time before a steady rain settled in for the evening.

We'd planned on a day hike up to Camel Pass, then along the ridges. Our wonderful Trail Ventures map has a most alluring photo of a guy mtn. biking in the upper Taylor Basin in mid-summer, and we so wanted to experience that photo. But again, it was not meant to be.

This year was a particualrily heavy snow-pack year here in BC. Back at the end of May we were forced to turn back from km 28 on the Hurly FSR as the snow was still too deep. And up here it seemed more like the beginning of June rather than mid-July.

First we checked out the old mine site (not too much exciting left there except for an old ore cart I neglected to get a photo of in my state of non-excitement).

A little further up near the pass we just about stumbled over this....

The rain had stopped in the meantime, so we sat down and ate a late lunch, staring into the fog. Dissapointed, we hiked the ridges back to Camel Pass and down into the Taylor Basin.

But, as we peeked out of the tent around 8:00, mixed skies greeted us. Blue sky and bright sun hung above Eldorado Peak - our destination for the day, but dark clouds hung overhead and low clouds obscured all the other mountains. It was like some evil lure was trying to goad us up the peak, only to potentially hammer us down at the top.

We knew, however, it was just a "sucker hole". Andre's altimeter hadn't changed one bit, showing that the barometric pressure hadn't changed and that we were in for more of the same weather. We decided to pack up & hike back down, perhaps to drive to a drier, sunnier location and embark on some other adventure.